Local firefighters brought the heat at a statewide competition Saturday.
Gainesville Fire Department’s Rapid Intervention Team A came in first place after competing against 13 teams at the 2016 Fire Rescue East competition.
Teams from the panhandle to South Florida traveled to the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach for a mix of trade shows and friendly competition.
David Shuford, a 28-year-old firefighter and paramedic, said his team breached walls, braved confined spaces and navigated with wax paper covering their masks.
They completed the course in about 16 minutes — six minutes quicker than the second leading team — while wearing full uniforms.
Shuford said the goal was to rescue a mannequin, but his real objective was to continue learning.
“There is a lot involved,” he said. “It is the training you learn throughout your career.”
Each four-man team is broken into two units. The first unit checked the “victim’s” gear and air supply. The second unit followed with a rope trail left by the first team and then carried the mannequin to safety.
GFR has participated in the annual event for the last three years and won second place last year. Another team from GFR competed in the event this year and missed a spot in the finals by 30 seconds.
“They worked really hard, and they wanted to finish it off this year,” said Chief James Lovvorn, the team’s incident commander during the competition.
